Canticle
by RogueRaven21
Summary: In war, both sides suffer. Songfic to Simon and Garfunkle's "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" that takes a look at both the Autobots and Decepticons one night during the war. G1 verse, but I don't own them.


A/N: The lyrics in italics are Simon and Garfunkle's "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" and looks at both sides of the war. I went strictly for the emotion the song inspires than any of the lyrics matching up. _Firestorm_ belongs to Okamichan and thanks goes to her for beta-ing. Springer's quirk is borrowed from AJRemix's Wreckers.

* * *

"Go around! Go Around!"

"-med evac, I repeat! I need an emergency med evac-"

"Incoming!"

"He's bleeding out!"

"Fire in the hole!"

"MEDIC!"

_Are you going to Scarborough Fair? _

 _Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme  _

_Remember me one who lives there _

 _She once was a true love of mine _

The city, like much of the planet, made a grim and smoky backdrop to the war that had gone on for far too long. The battlefield grew silent with the gathering darkness as both sides needed to recover, reload, and recharge. Ironhide settled into the trench and tried to recharge but couldn't. He activated and looked longingly at the small hologram he always carried. He hadn't actually seen her in over a vorn, but nothing dimmed his feelings or memories of Chromia.

  _Tell her to make me a cambric shirt _

 _(On the side of a hill in the deep forest green) _

_Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme  _

_(Tracing a sparrow on snow-crested ground)_

Soundwave knelt in the relative dark shadow of a half-collapsed building. His steady hands worked carefully repairing Ravage's broken leg. The other cassettes: Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, stood around in a protective semicircle. They remained silent sentries, watching the communications officer repair one of their own.

 _Without no seams nor needlework_

 _(Blankets and bedclothes a child of the mountains) _

_Then she'll be a true love of mine _

 _(Sleeps unaware of the clarion call) _

Springer stopped in at the temporary med center to check on Sandstorm. The other triplechanger had taken a fragment grenade directly to the chest that day trying to protect another injured Autobot. Topspin worked with a grousing Ratchet, their hands buried in the ragged remains of the orange mech's chest. The Energon goodie between his dental plates almost forgotten, Springer found himself wondering just how much longer the fragging war would last.

_Tell her to find me an acre of land  _

_(On the side of a hill, a sprinkling of leaves) _

_Parsley, sage, rosemary, & thyme_

_(Washed is the ground with so many tears) _

Skywarp turned a Firestorm piece over and over in his hand. The miniature seeker figure once shone brightly, now it disappeared in the shadows of his palm from handling and the grime of war. The trinket remained his only reminder of why he'd become one of Megatron's Seekers.

_Between the salt water and the sea strand _

 _(A soldier cleans and polishes a gun)_

 _Then she'll be a true love of mine_

Ratchet watched as the Protectobots moved the last of the extinguished out of the temporary med lab. He had tried to save them all, but some things he just could not fix. At least Sandstorm would live, the only critically injured fighter to survive that day. One out of five to pull through, only one out of five. The CMO's internals surged as the realization struck him. The war would not end and he just could not save all those that still believed in the cause and kept fighting no matter how long the battles carried on.

  _Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather  _

_(War bellows, blazing in scarlet battalions)_

 _Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme _

Shrapnel curled up close to his Insecticon brothers and let out a hum that only the other two could hear. The sound resonated through them, and they hummed back in perfect harmony. It reassured and confirmed that all three survived the battle and also served as a way to check for injuries or malfunctions. They had all learned far too long ago the number of mechs in the entire Decepticon army that truly cared about their well-being included only themselves.

 _(Generals order their soldiers to kill) _

_And to gather it all in a bunch of heather _

 _(And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)_

 _Then she'll be a true love of mine   _

"Sir? Prowl called quietly, approaching the silent Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader didn't move from where he stood reviewing the results of the day's battle. Both sides were suffering heavy losses and running low on supplies, but the fighting showed no signs of waning any time soon. "Sir," the strategist tried again, "the troops are loosing morale."

_Are you going to Scarborough Fair?_

 _Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme _

 _Remember me to one who lives there  _

_She once was a true love of mine_

"I know."


End file.
